Collier, Thompson win gold medals on final day of Western Athletic Conference Championships

ARLINGTON — Nathan Collier and Kerry Thompson both won individual titles on Saturday to lead the UTSA men's track & field team to a sixth-place finish at the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championships.

The Roadrunners finished the four-day meet with 98 points. Texas State held off a late charge by Utah State to win the team crown, 149-143, and host UT Arlington (136) rounded out the top three.

Collier clocked a 3:56.67 en route to his gold medal in the 1,500 meters. It marked the program's sixth all-time conference title in the event and first in four seasons.

Meanwhile, Thompson, who came into the meet atop the league high jump standings, won UTSA's third conference crown in the last four campaigns (fourth overall) in the event with his leap of 6-11 ½ (2.12m). He tied with UT Arlington's Roland Sales but earned the gold medal due to fewer misses. His third victory in as many meets this spring was the fifth of his three-year career. Earlier in the day, Thompson scored a point with an eighth-place finish in the triple jump (PR 47-9 ¾/14.57m).

When coupled with Roscoe Robinson's long jump championship on Friday, UTSA won a total of three individual titles this weekend and the program now boasts 55 in its history.

Following the meet, Jonas Gutierrez was tabbed WAC Freshman of the Year after accounting for a combined seven points in the two hurdles events. The Weslaco native raced to a third-place performance in the 110m highs (14.38) and he later placed eighth in the 400m intermediates (54.98).

Christopher Hall also contributed points in a pair of events, as he finished fourth in both the 200m (21.31) and 400m (47.16), which was good for 10 points.

The Roadrunners top event of the evening came in the 400m hurdles, as Joshua Smith (PR 51.09) and Jurmarcus Shelvin (52.35) crossed the line second and third, respectively, and they netted a combined 15 points when coupled with Gutierrez's eighth-place showing.

UTSA picked up another four tallies in the hammer throw when Andris Vistins (166-2/50.66m) and Jeremy Jones (PR 157-2/47.91m) placed sixth and eighth and the Birds also earned four in the 800m when Chrisshun Jamerson (1:55.97) and Tony Jaramillo (2:03.48) came across the tape in sixth and eighth.

Ryder Boatman was the only other individual to score, as he finished eighth in the high jump (PR 6-3 ¼/1.91m).

The squad's remaining seven points came in the day's two relays. The 1,600m quartet finished third (3:12.89), while the 400m group was seventh (45.97).

UTSA will return to action in two weeks at the NCAA Championships Preliminary Rounds in Austin.